Bringing the internet to a remote corner of India

Apr 12, 2017 08:46 IST

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A salt pan worker of the Agariya community in Gujarat works in the remote and arid Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Children of these workers accompany their parents for nearly eight months of the year during the salt farming season. Sheltered beneath a canvas sheet to escape the blistering desert sun, miles from any roads or power lines, a group of children huddle around a digital tablet and experience the internet for the very first time through a remote wi-fi connection powered by a van bringing the digital world to them. (AFP)

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A 'Zero Connect' programme van driving on parched earth arriving for a tent school workshop with the children of salt pan workers in the Little Rann of Kutch region of Gujarat some 180 kms west of Ahmedabad. The 'Zero Connect' initiative provides basic education for the children in a joint initiative by the Agaria Heet Rakshak Manch, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Internet Society and Wireless for Communities groups. The initiative runs mobile workshops for the children, providing online access and education materials. (AFP)

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Programme co-ordinators for Agariya Heet Rakshak Manch set up an Internet-connected van for a tent school workshop for a group of children of salt pan workers in the Little Rann of Kutch. (AFP)

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The mobile van workshops for the children in progress providing them online access. Located in a remote corner of western Gujarat, where there is no power supply, it is an out of the world experience for the kids. (AFP)

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A TV screen displays cartoons at the 'Zero Connect' Programme with a group of children of salt pan workers during a tent school workshop using an Internet-connected van. (AFP)

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Anand Solanki (C), facilitator of the 'Zero Connect' programme scrolls through a tablet with a group of children of salt pan workers during a tent school workshop using an Internet-connected van, in the Little Rann of Kutch. (AFP)

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Salt pan workers from the Agariya community, Puja Ganeshbhai Muladiya (L) along with her mother Devuben working in a salt pan in the Little Rann of Kutch. India is ranked third in gross amount of salt produced in the world, behind China and the United States, and the western state of Gujarat accounts for 77 percent of India's production. (AFP)

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Puja Ganeshbhai Muladiya (R) along with her sisters prepare for a traditional Garba (Gujarat's folk dance) as they connect a solar panel-powered music systems in the Little Rann of Kutch. (AFP)

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A group of children run as they finish a tent school workshop with the 'Zero Connect' programme, in the Little Rann of Kutch. They are part of some 10,000 families living on the inhospitable salt flats of western Gujarat, where their parents work eight months a year in extreme conditions. (AFP)